I ran across these two steam engine designs the other day, and I think they are in the public domain now.

These articles display the state of the steam engine modeling in the 1920's, and this is generally the level of complexity that I aspire to be able to create.

One author mentions that his design was partially derived from a set of drawings for a full sized engine, which were laying on the table in front of him. I wish I had some drawings like that, but we do have the articles, which is the next best thing, and lots of engravings on this site and elsewhere on the internet.

The drawings in these articles were all hand drawings (no CAD or computers back then).A great example of the art of illustration, and great detailing.

The articles mention casting the parts in gray cast iron, and this is a method that I am beginning to have success with in a backyard casting setting. Pouring gray cast iron successfully is a complex and expensive endeavor, but with careful design, an excellent and authentic set of engine castings can be made, with cast-in passages just like the original engines.

These articles are an interesting look at the state of the steam modeling hobby in 1923-4, and an good illustration of what is possible with a little effort and thought.

If you are lucky to have been able to master a 3D modeling program, you can avoid much of the tedium of recreating models such as these, and can also use the 3D modeling to set up your patterns if you are going to cast your own parts.

Note that PDF files for both of these articles are attached to this post for downloading.

I agree, many of the newer CAD programs make drawings that lack "character". That is why I use Corel drawing software, for example it allows any chosen line width, as opposed to many newer CAD programs that only allow a few standard line weights. The attached files show a 1970's hand made India ink drawing, compared to a 1998 Corel drawing. I think these fall between the older and more elegant "classic" drawing styles of 100 years ago, and the modern industrial drawing software which often produces drawings that appear somewhat bland.

When I was doing research on buying a Case traction engine ,I obtained the boiler drawings from Case-International .They were ink on vellum and incredable works of art.The copy I received will be framed and placed on my wall! It's hard to believe I won the drafting award in grade 12[my work should have been burned after looking at some of these old drawings!!] Den And no I didn't buy it!